


Bill's Christmas Miracle

by Brazendale



Category: Southern Vampire Mysteries - Charlaine Harris, True Blood
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-23
Updated: 2014-12-23
Packaged: 2018-03-03 00:14:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2831132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brazendale/pseuds/Brazendale
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It is close to Christmas and a random tweet read by Jessica leads to a gift from Bill that will change more than one life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bill's Christmas Miracle

**Author's Note:**

> This short story is dedicated to K and S - two remarkable & wonderful people, and to all those that face the challenges that life throws their way with courage, dignity and a sense of humour. 
> 
> Merry Christmas to all and much love to all those who still believe in miracles at Christmas and any time of the year.

 

 

It was the night before Christmas Eve and it had been a long one for Bill Compton, King of Louisiana. He had spent hours at Fangtastia going over business matters with Eric until they had finally called it quits and parted on an amicable note, the Christmas spirit surprisingly bringing some reprieve to the usual hostilities between them. With Sookie out of the picture and Bill being the benevolent ruler that he was, a new respect had grown on both sides and things were looking pretty good for their future ventures.

Bill was humming a tune to himself as he drove home. Things were pretty good in his world now even though he was on his own. It didn’t matter really as long as he had Jessica. She had turned out to be a wonderful young lady and he loved her so very much. She was the daughter that he always hoped Sarah would grow up to be and he was so very proud of her. Who wouldn’t be he was thinking as he pulled into the drive and parked the car. Yes, all in all, he was a very happy man.

‘Jessica are you home?’ Bill called out as he entered the hallway and put his car keys on the vestibule table to the side of the door way. ‘I’m in here,’ a muted voice called out from the living room. At the sound of her voice Bill made his way into the room and stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of the forlorn and tear stained face looking up from the sofa where Jess was sitting, her tablet resting on her lap. With lightning speed he was at her side cradling her in his arms. ‘What is it? What’s the matter?’ he asked, concern written all over his face for his young progeny.

‘Oh Bill it’s just so sad,’ she choked pointing to her tablet and the article she was reading. He glanced down at the print and quickly scrolled through the item that the link in a random tweet on Jessica’s time line had provided. ‘I know I am vampire and I know I shouldn’t care, we’re not supposed to are we, we are supposed to be blood sucking hardened creatures but…’ her words trailed off as she looked at him sadly. He held her gently, his heart breaking with remorse for turning her, putting her in this position and for the part of her that was still human enough to care and in conflict with their darker side.

‘Jessica sweetheart, you wouldn’t be the beautiful girl that you are if you didn’t still have that part of humanity within you that still cares, that is still wholesome and good. I am so very sorry for what I have done to you,’ he responded, remorse written all over his face. ‘Oh no Bill, no! Please don’t feel like that. I really only began to live when I met you. You have given me a family that I never really had. You are the father that I always wanted but didn’t have in my human life. And you have taught me to care about others,’ she swallowed back more tears and went on, ‘that’s why this,’ she pointed to her tablet, ‘just touched me so much.’ ‘Life just seems to be so random and so grossly unfair. I mean did you read this?’ Bill nodded.

He too had been touched by the heartfelt story written by a husband telling of his wife’s battle with a debilitating disease that as yet had no cure. He had told of how she had devoted herself to helping others all her life, of her work caring for others in less fortunate circumstances and of her love for animals, dogs in particular. He had gone on to say how she was in the prime of her life, still young and productive but now her future was uncertain. The love and respect that he had held for her shone through every single word like a beacon. It touched Bill deeply.

The story wasn’t written as a begging letter. It didn’t ask for funds and it wasn’t looking for sympathy. It was just a small piece of one person’s life and daily struggle with the hand that had been dealt. In truth it was uplifting to read of so much courage and love in the face of adversity and the unknown future that beheld the couple, and the bravery of the words moved Bill more than he had felt in a long time.

‘Can you send me the link to this?’ Bill asked her quietly as he stroked her head calming and soothing her just like he did with Sarah or Thomas when they were young and hurting. ‘Sure Bill, I’ll email you the link,’ she smiled a little and he brushed away her tears gently from her face. ‘Thanks, now come on, dawn is coming and it’s time to go to ground. We best hit the sack.’ They got up and walked up stairs to their light tight bedrooms.

‘Good night Bill and …’ she reached up and threw her arms around him, ‘thanks for being you.’ He smiled into her hair as he held her face close to his, squeezing her gently. ‘Good night Jessica, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite.'

                                                                                               *******************************************************

The corridor was dimly lit, only a distant pool of light shone brightly out of the gloom that afforded the inhabitants of the floor some kind of hope that sleep would take them away from their circumstances for even just a short while. There was a silence that was deafening, permeating the whole place and broken only by the occasional muffled groan coming from the tightly shut doors of each room that Bill passed.

His sense of smell was assaulted by the various vapours floating through the air, thick cloying aromatherapy oil attempted to mask the unmistakeable smell of disinfectant and other less pleasant things that he cared not to think of but failed in its attempt. Cautiously he made his way to the light at the end of the corridor, moving silently as a cat as was his way, least he disturb anyone’s fractured sleep. Peeping around the corner of the last room he found the station empty, devoid of any staff, all too busy with their nightly charges to even be aware of his presence. Gaily festooned with tinsel and a small Christmas tree with its coloured lights twinkling, it harboured a festive note of hope in the otherwise sombre place of healing.

Taking advantage of this opportunity he quickly moved behind the counter and punched some information into one of the computers left open, the information he was seeking coming up on the screen in seconds – a name and a room number, 648.

Room 648, the room he found himself in, was standard for those days. A bed, a chair for visitors, an overhead TV if you were willing to pay to view it, and a small cabinet next to the bed, all conventional and having seen better days. Several floral arrangements stood atop the chest, various get well cards scattered amongst them and three brightly coloured helium filled balloons tied to the bed head completed the scanty inventory within the four walls.

Bill stood silently looking down at the bed with its sleeping inhabitant. His eyes misted and his heart was filled with compassion as he took in a pretty but tired and pain wracked face, hair the colour of Jessica’s framing it with a riot of beautiful curls, skin as transparent as the most precious of finest porcelain, and the small frame, not much more than that of a child. His eyes filled with tears as he thought back to the time to when he had stood looking down at his Thomas and remembered how he would have given anything, sold his soul at the crossroads even - his life itself if he had one at the time to give just to change things and give his son back his health. Wouldn’t any Mother, Father, Husband or Wife feel the same way he pondered?

He picked up a small framed picture sitting in pride of place next to one of the bunch of flowers and studied the happy smiling faces in what was clearly a wedding photo. Full of hopes and dreams for the future, full of love and confidence they could face the world together in sickness and in health, remembering his own wedding day and all his own hopes and dreams for a life ahead of him.

As he put the frame back on the cabinet the girl in the bed stirred a little and opened her eyes. ‘Are you the angel of death come to take me away from the pain?’ she asked her voice steady but barely audible, holding no fear at the sight of Bill’s pale and drawn and bloodied tear stained face. ‘Do you want me to be?’ he asked shaken by her reaction. She smiled and her smile nearly broke Bill’s heart. ‘I can take the pain,’ she whispered her confession, ‘that is something that I have learnt to live with, it is the hurt of watching what this is doing to those that I love that is the most painful of all. It’s my fault and I can’t bear it.’ ‘They love you, they are only hurting because you are hurting,’ he offered as way of comfort to her.

‘But I don’t want them to hurt, not on my account,’ she responded grief stricken at the pain her husband and family were going through, ‘I just want them to know that I love them and no matter what, I always will and that I am so sorry for putting them through this.’ He took her small hand in his. ‘That is what we all want for those that we love, truly love – for them to know that we love them beyond measure, beyond even the boundaries of this world and the next whatever that maybe, and that we regret we have caused them any pain.’

She looked at him in wonder. ‘You… you really understand don’t you. You know what it is like, it’s happened to you hasn’t it. You have suffered and born the burden of knowing it is you that has caused the suffering for those that you love the most.’ ‘Yes,’ he said softly, ‘I know what it is like to see the pain of the person you love the most and to know that I am the cause of it but…’

She looked into his eyes and held her breathe waiting for she knew not what but she felt that the next words he was about to say would be the most important words she had ever heard in her life. ‘While I can’t heal those that I love and care for and make it better for them I can heal you, I can take all this away from you but you must trust me.’ He looked at her face suddenly lit with hope.

She looked at his face and saw beyond the unusual deathly pallor, saw only the most beautiful of trustworthy eyes and kindly expression. ‘Why yes, I believe that I do,’ she said gently squeezing his hand, ‘I don’t know why but I don’t think you would hurt me.’ ‘I won’t hurt you, I can assure you. I want to heal you.’ ‘You can do that? Really heal me? What are you?’

‘I am vampire.’

                                                                          *******************************************

‘Bill is that you?’ Jessica called out from the living room as she heard the front door open and close. ‘Come here quickly,’ she urged over the sound of the television, ‘look, look at this,’ she pointed to the news item on the screen as he rushed in catching the tail end of the reported new item -

“Doctors are saying they have no explanation as to why all the patients have been miraculously healed. One spokesman from the board of governors at the leading hospital for investigating diseases said quote – _Sometimes you just have to believe in Christmas miracles when all else fails._ Well whatever the reason is, this is one Christmas that we are sure no one will ever forget.”

Jessica looked at Bill and smiled, tears sparkling in her eyes.

‘Did you…’ He shrugged and taking her in his arms hugged her.

‘Merry Christmas Jessica,’ he said softly kissing the top of her head.

‘Merry Christmas Bill, let’s hope that there are Christmas miracles every day for everyone.’

Finis


End file.
